Saturday, November 29, 2014

Outside Urban Sketching from the Inside

We’re having unusual weather here this weekend.
Yesterday we had high winds and heavy rain all day, but the temperatures were
in the mid-50s. The mercury dropped by more than 20 degrees overnight, and we
woke to a couple of inches of snow. Then the wind kept blowing, despite
sunshine, and with the wind chill factor, we’re down to 22 F (although the
thermometer currently reads 31)! Brrrr! I know that’s nothing by east coast
standards, but it’s pretty dang chilly for these parts.

Needless to say, I didn’t go out to sketch, although the sun
looked tempting, even in the brutal wind. As I was admiring the snow through
our front windows, I noticed interesting shadows that the power lines were
casting on the new pole (on the left) in front of our house. (That’s the pole that was installed in August right
next to the old pole.) The lines themselves formed a fascinating abstract pattern
(once I got over their stark ugliness). And then to top it all off (literally), a flicker
landed on the top of the old pole and stayed long enough for me to sketch him several
times.